was modestly optimistic about a deal on taxes. speaking in the white house briefing room,presidentobamacondemnedcongress for failing to resolve its differences in in normal way. he held firm to middle-class tax cuts to families making $250,000 per year. joining me now from the white house is nbc's kristen welker. kristen, let's take a look at what the president said about what he expects from the senate. >> i just had a good discussion from house leadership about how to prevent this on the middle class. i believe we can reach an agreement. if an agreement isn't reached in time between senator reid and sno senator mccollum, i will reach to him. i believe such a proposal could pass both houses with bipartisan majorities as long as the leaders allow it to actually come to a vote. if members of the house or the senate want to vote no, they can. but we should let everybody vote. >> kristen, this up or down vote seems to be the big news of the day. isn't this what the white house wanted all along? >> well, it is and it's president obama's way of saying, look, vote on his basic proposal, the

passed by thelastcongress, 460by the one before that. >>> despite that terrible recordpresidentobamahassigned an executive order giving returning members of congress a 1% raise. >>> and the senate did put in some extra work hours last night but there was some glumbling. one senator said quote this is definitely not a kunbaya moment. >>> now for a look at your new year's eve weather let's turn to bill karins. happy new year's eve morning. >> big day, right? >> it is. going to be a cold one. >> maybe not for i but for everyone it's a cold. a little bit of snow to talk about. no big blockbuster snowstorms. the cold air is the story. easily be the coldest week of the winter season. areas in white winter weather advisories from new mexico, north texas, panhandle of oklahoma across kansas, missouri, southern indiana and illinois this is where light snow is heading your way. winter weather advisory means slippery travel but not a blockbuster event and cancel your events. travel with care especially northern, the panhandle of oklahoma, up through kansas this morning the snow is breaking

presidentobamahasbeen trying to turn up the heatoncongressapplyingnew pressure on sunday in an interview with david gregory on "meet the press." we have details. >> reporter: on "meet the press," president obama continued his public campaign to pressure congress. >> if congress doesn't act then everybody's taxes go up, and for the average family that could mean a loss of $2,000 in income and the whole economy could slow down at a time when the economy is starting to pick up. >> reporter: he again called on lawmakers to strike a deal or hold a vote on his plan which would raise tax rates on wealthy americans, a major sticking point for republicans. >> the way they are behaving is that their only priority is making sure that tax breaks for the wealthiest americans are protected. that seems to be their only overriding unifying theme. >> reporter: after the interview republican leaders accused the president of assigning blame instead of leading. >> so when they say leadership falls on you mr. president you don't have a role here in breaking this impasse? you've had a tough go

in the white house briefing room,presidentobamacondemnedcongressforfailing to resolve its differences in any normal way. >> christin, let's take a listen to what the president said about the up or down vote about what he expects to emerge from the senate. >> i just had a good and constructive discussion here at the white house with senate and house leadership about how to prevent this tax hike on the middle class. i'm optimistic. if an agreement isn't reached in time, between senate store reid and senator mcconnell, then i will urge senator reid to bring to the floor a basic package for an up or down vote. i believe such a proposal could pass with bipartisan majorities. >> this up or down vote seems to be the big news of the day. isn't this what the white house wanted all along? >> well, it is. it's president's obama's way of saying vote on his basic proposal. it would extend in employment insurance benefit and deal with unemployment insurance cuts. >> so the question is, could they actually get that many republicans to vote for this package that the president is calling for? >> but p

. breaking news,presidentobamaurgescongresstomake a deal to overt the fiscal cliff. he announces no deal, but progress may be in sight. >> and that would be the wrong thing to do for our e con mu. it would be bad for middle class families and bad for businesses that depend on family spending. fortunately, congress can prevent it from happening if they act right now. i just had a good and constructive discussion here at the white house about how to prevent this tax hike on the middle class. and i'm optimistic we may still be able to reach an agreement that can pass both houses in time. senators reid and mcconnell are working on such an agreement as we speak. >> it comes after speaker boehner left the white house. he didn't say anything to reporters and neither did anyone else who was seen leaving the meeting. here's what we do know. in just four days, taxes will go up on millions. and millions more will have their vital unemployment benefits run out. that's why president obama organized the meeting with vice president biden, speaker boehner, nancy pelosi and senators reid and mcco

>>presidentobamaandcongressaremiles apart, but with the president cutting his vacation short, is there time for a resolution. the srkd term shuffle is getting complicated. >> chinese food for former president bush surrounded by family. still in a houston hospital after his health has taken a turn for the worst. good morning. it's wednesday, the day after christmas and this is "the daily rundown" and i'm luke russert for chuck todd. just more day in paradise for president obama while the rest of the family stays in hawaii. he will head back later this evening. he did take out with the first lady to express gratitude with service members on behalf of the nation. >> we know it's not easy, but what we also want you to know is you have the entire country behind you and all of us understand that we would be nowhere without the extraordinary service that you provide. i want to say thank you and we love you. >> kristen welker is live in honolulu. it's early in the morning there, but president obama traveling home to d.c. 10:00 p.m. hawaii time. there doesn't seem to be a lot of urgen

obamatheymay give new meaning of the term donothingcongress. >>>and senator mike crapo has decided not to fight the charges of his dui arrest which tests showed his blood alcohol was nearly twice the legal limit. >>> congressman chris van hallen said congress needed to reach a deal on the fiscal cliff by christmas. less than 48 hours until that cliff what does he think now? you are watching msnbc, the place for politics. when you have diabetes... your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. >>> the self-imposed 3:00 p.m. deadline the senate came up with for a deal has come and gone which means without a last minute deal starting january 1st tax hikes and massive spending cuts will be in effect. extended unemployment benefits have ended. we will be live on capitol hill with the latest developments coming up in just a moment. before we take you over to c

's not forget last year's debt ceiling debacle, whichpresidentobamahasvowed never to repeat. >>ifcongressinany way suggests that they're going to tie negotiations to debt ceiling votes and take us to the brink of default once again as part of a budget negotiation, which, by the way, we have never done in our history, until we did it last year, i will not play that game. >> won't play that game. never done in history. will the president stick to that and not allow another debacle, a debacle, if we want to be british or american, of the debt ceiling vote to be tied to budget cuts like it was last time around? >> whether it's a debacle or a debacle. we'll find out very, very quickly. the president is standing his ground so far, he is saying that he is not going to compromise on what was essentially a very central issue in the campaign. that is, are we going to see bush tax cuts continue for people who are richer than $250,000 and, you know, the republicans in congress, as you recall, last week, they said that they will not vote a tax increase, even on millionaires. house republicans have b

. that waspresidentobamalamentingthe state of affairs in washington, d.c. indeed,today'scongressison track to go down as the least productive congress since recordkeeping began. the 112th congress will come to a merciful end in early january. it has passed 219 bills that have actually been signed into law by president obama, according to the "huffington post." many of them insignificant measures like naming post offices. speaker john boehner's congress is about to take the prize for inaction. this is not a bipartisan problem. as stated by both liberal and conservative analysts, "we have been studying washington politics and congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional in our past writerings. we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the republican party." let's not forget that this was also the year that senator mitch mcconnell filibustered his own bill, an act that drew the utter consternation of senator dick durbin. >> so this may be a mo

obamausingthe bully pulpit of his office to put pressureoncongress. "meetthe press" tomorrow and take a listen to part of what he said yesterday afternoon. take a listen. >> if an agreement isn't reached in time between senator reid and senator mcconnell, then i will urge senator reid to bring to the floor a basic package for an up or down vote. >> up or down vote. what kind of pressure would that put on members of congress? >> this is all about the blame game, craig. it takes 60 votes to do almost anything in the u.s. senate. for president obama calling for an up or down vote, for the senate which rarely happens he would be saying if any republican or groups of republicans ends up blocking the legislation, they would be the ones who would be blamed for going over the fiscal cliff and luke russert just outlined something else, too, if you even get 60 votes that then goes to the house the question is does house speaker john boehner and republicans allow that to come to the vote. if they don't, they'll be the ones to get the blame. so president obama was using his bully pulpit

the markets do. we'll say this.presidentobamadoesn'thave to worry as much as the membersofcongressdobecause he's not on the ballot again. >> but if there's a second recession, doesn't that kill his second term? >> i hear republicans and democrats and obama want to come together on middle class rates. i think they'll make a deal in early january to extend some part. >> but are you saying this doesn't really hurt? if they go sometime next friday, nine days from now, will the market go down and come up or will it plunge? >> the republicans want to cut a deal before the cliff. >> i know that. but if this thing goes over the cliff, will there be term innocent damage to the economy like a new recession? >> republicans tell me they think if they can make a deal on rates early january the markets will fluctuate. >> i am hearing the markets have already reacted. >> for a couple days. couple days. >> yeah. >> i've heard another argument. a lot of people say, or at least people i've talked to, if they can't do it by the date, they can't count on anything gets done. it'll get worse every day. >

likethat,obama, thedealmaker,obamathepraying mattist, to use democrats inthecongressinthat way, or not? >> i don't see their incentives as being that much different. i do think that president obama, the leader of the democratic party, really has the leverage. i don't -- i expect that if there is a deal, that democrats don't like, you'll hear grumbling from the democrats, but i would be very surprised if you hear outright revolt. what democrats in congress want is more money. that's what president obama is facing. a full second term of under very constrained circumstances. he wants more rev new. i think he also wants, as much as he feels like he has that sword over republicans, the fact is if the economy goes into recession, that is going to affect the prospects for a successful second term for him and n a profound way. >> congressman cummings, if i still have you, i'm interested in your take on this. i think some friction between even a democratic controlled white house and a democratic controlled house or a democratic controlled congress, there is some friction bui

now and ifpresidentobamawantstoengagecongressonthis, it will be an uphill battle for him. >> let's listen to chuck schumer responding to wayne lapierre's comments on the press. >> i think he's so extreme and so tone deaf that he actually helps the cause of us passing sensible gun legislation in the congress. >> friday's comments, yesterday's interview, what's your thought here? was he handling the sensitivity properly here? >> when the nra entered the fray on friday, they introduced a different topic into the conversation we'd been talking a lot about gun control, mental health issues and here we have a new topic of arming more people in schools. so i think this might be a more divisive part of the conversation and kind of might rile up some democrats to be opposing them. >> jake, you know, lapierre was very clear in his messaging over the weekend as well as on friday and kaitlin was making one note of that. who is he trying to convince right now and is he the right personing to carrying the message right now coming from the nra? >> i think you've seen a backlash of sorts

of getting thisflewcongress. presidentobamawhenhe campaigned for his first term, said he would like to look at reveezing the assault weapons ban. the white house sent some gentle signal early on they might try to do that, and it was instantly clear that they backed away from it. the mere prospect of president obama's being elected caused a huge run on ammunition, police departments were almost running out of it. now many democrats think the situation is different because of newtown and the other mass shootings this year, so i guess we're going to find out whether past is prologue. things have -- things may have changed. we're going to have to see how much they have. >> senators kay bailey hutchison and mark warren yesterday segment nauling their willing tons talk about this, and most likely the conversation leading itself to do something about high magazine clips and what is defined as an assault weapon. is the climate right for a modernized assault weapons ban to pass through congress? especially if vice president joe biden and this inter-agency task force with muster enough suppor

becauseofobama's re-election.the "new york times" made the front page with "clout diminished, tea party turns to narrower issues." and "the washington post" reports tea party stays on the sidelines as obamas, republicans in congress tackle fiscal cliff. the most visible former elected official in the tea party and, of course, chairman of freedom works tried to oust several freedom works officials this fall. in fact, according to the post, army thieves control momentarily of the group. and he brought a gun carrying aide to remove rivals within the organization. but within a week, army was out. freedom works arranged an $8 million pay page for him. $8 million. that is more than the organization's entire annual budget in some years. over in the house, several tea party allies were recently stripped of their committee assignments by speaker boehner. so there are some problems there at the top. an influential conservative is lashing out. >> the tea party is going of to look at itself. it's been so helpful to the republican party in the past. it saved i by not going third party in 2010, helpi

days awayunlesscongressacts.one step forward, two steps back.presidentobamaandrepublican lawmakers have been dancing that waltz for six weeks now, but the music stops when the countdown clock at the bottom of your screen runs out. so where do fiscal cliff talks stand at this critical hour? nbc's kristen welker is on the north lawn and luke russert are both following developments this saturday afternoon. kristen, i'll start with you. any indication at this particular point as to what's happening behind closed doors this afternoon? >> reporter: well, i think most of the action is going on in the hill where staffers with majority leader reid and minority leader mcconnell are trying to conjure up some last-minute deal and this plan would not be the grand bargain that john boehner started initially working on. that plan would have dealt with tax reform and deficit reduction and this will be a much more scaled back version that will deal with the issue of taxes and that is still the big sticking point, taxes. of course, democrats and president obama have called for tax rates to

we heard frompresidentobamawhoexpressedfrustrationthatcongresshasyet to come to an agreement. >> i have to say that ever since i took office, throughout the campaign, and over the last couple of months, my preference would have been to solve all these problems in the context of a larger agreement, a bigger deal, a grand bargain, whatever you want to call it that solves our deficit problems in a balanced and responsible way, but with this congress this was obviously a little too much to hope for at this time. it may be we can do it in stages. we're going to solve this problem, instead, in several steps. one thing we can count on with respect to this congress is that if there's even one second left before you have to do what you're supposed to do, they will use that last second. >> well, when all the dust settles, and as we know it is not settled yet, will we be able to say that one side or the other got more of what it wanted? with me now is ezra klein from "the washington post" and "huffington post's" sam stein. a lot of republicans didn't like what they heard from the presid

incongressoftenresort to executiveactions.obamaevenhad a program for it called "we can't wait." the most famous "we can't wait" provision was on immigration, where he basically stopped the deportation on young hispanic people brought her as immigrants as children. that's, as you know, the fastest-growing voting population in the country. >> and quite possibly could have delivered him the state of florida. let's talk about some other interesting issues, highs and lows of the campaign, that happened within a month of each other, the first would be a low, that first debate, a lot of folks thought mitt romney was tipping the scales after that night in denver. >> well, astonishing, several things were going on there, i don't think president obama likes these debates. i don't think he really respected governor romney at that point, probably thought he might have been a bit of a lightweight, also a feeling president obama wanted to feel presidential and above it all and all those things combined for a horrific performance, even his aides would admit that and he would admit that at th

. in december 2008, shortly before leaving office, the job approval rating sunk to miserable27%.congresswasa thorn in the side of second-term presidents. it's a question of whether president obama forges a closer working relationship with congress this time around and then the second-term scandal. clinton dom natded and ended after a year because lewinski scandal began. congressional investigation and impeachment and then completely derailed any agenda he hoped to push in that second four years. >> i have to go back to work on my state of the union speech. and i worked on it until pretty late last night. but i want to say one thing to the american people. i want you to listen to me. i'm going to say this again. i did not have sexual relations with that woman. miss lewinski. >> though ronald reagan pushed through a tax overhaul in the second term he also became embroiled in the iran-contra affair. >> a few months ago i told the american people i did not trade arms for hostages. my heart and best intentions still tell me that's true but the facts and evidence tell me it is not. >> there'

the feelingthatcongress' approvalratingamongpresidentobamaisin the neighborhood of negative 75,000 percent. and yes, numbers geeks, not a real number. but he seems really tired of working with these people. but there is a way in which congress, and particularly congressional republicans may actually be helping president obama out right now. everybody's always known two things about the cliff. you're almost certainly going to get more taxes in a deal after you go over than in a deal before you go over it. that's because after you go over the cliff, taxes already go up for everybody. so anything you do, any reasonable deal congress reaches, it will be a big tax cut. but the other thing about the fiscal cliff is you don't want to be blamed for going over it. it is going to be bad for the economy. it's bad for the country. what speaker boehner's done is create a situation in which we're going to go over the fiscal cliff. but the people who want higher taxes, the democrats, they're not going to be blamed for it. after all, it was john boehner who walked away from negotiations to try

about that quite yet.presidentobamatoday,and what i thought was interesting is using the power of the bully pulpit to put pressure on congress to get this basic deal done that he is calling for, and richard, one of the things that he said at the end of the remarks is that essentially this is not how the american people do business and just to remind you that ordinary folks meet their deadlines and sort out disagreements and the fact that the lawmakers can't do it is boggling to many of them. the president really trying to ramp up public pressure, and this is something that we have seen him do in the past, a tactic that he has taken in the past to try to get the public on his side to put the pressure on the house republicans. richard? >> kristen welker, thank you so much for all of your work at the white house. joined by the grio's joy reid and chicago tribute's clarence page. let's talk about what kristen was just talking about, because i felt that the president was getting impatient. roll the tape. >> outside of washington, nobody seems to understand why this is a repeat patte

will have everybody yunited against the white houseandcongressbutibelievethatobamastillhas an upper hand here because he has shown in a sense -- i mean, one, he's more ability to help forge a deal. the republicans can't make up for the loss they have had in public perception over this tax and spending issue. it's too hard, too far to go. too much resistance from within their own ranks. >> talking about plan "b" and being the epic failure of not being sent to the floor for votes, does that take in to question whether or not john boehner could get anything done if over in the senate mitch mcconnell and harry reid craft something? >> no. it does raise the question. that was a blunder by republicans and boehner and obama were moving closer and boehner went and gambled and lost and now the pressure's on the senate. i think anyone that could pass the senate probably could pass the house because if it passes the senate, it's 10 to 20 republican senators. mitch mcconnell, up for re-election. will he craft a deal with harry reid? that's dicey. whatever bill is passed, may not be that popular

of the attack that killed four americans. >>> also in an interview,presidentobamadiscussedwho he thinks is to blame for last minute negotiations ahead of the looming fiscal cliff. >> so far, at least, congress has not been able to get this stuff done. not because democrats in congress don't want to go ahead and cocooperate, i think it's bn hard for speaker boehner and leader mcconnell to accept the fact taxes on wealthiest americans should go up. we have put forward not only a sensible deal, but one that has the support of the majority of the american people, including close to half of republicans. >> let's get to the strategy talk. a pleasure to welcome these two gentlemen. joe sestak and former republican congressman and chairman tom davis, thank you both for being here. >> i was talking to you all during the commercial break. you said if it was up to you two, what would you do. what would your solution be right now? not the deal, the politics of a deal. >> we have to set politics aside. both parties need to look in the mirror and say what do we do for the good of america? set aside t

between the white house, the senate,thecongressmovesto pennsylvania avenue.presidentobamameetingbehind closed doors with house speaker boehner, senate majority leader harry reid and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell talking about doing something to keep more than trillion dollars in tax increases and cuts from taking effect next week. also joining that party today, america's happy warrior. vice president joe biden will be there. while some appear ready to compromise others are still ducking, dodging, trying to dump the blame elsewhere. >> we all have our ideas and in the senate, you're right. we probably another 40, 50, 60 of saying that we're ready to both raise revenues and control entitlements. when's the missing ingredient? it is presidential leadership. >> i think in the end we'll get a deal. the question is the timing. >> am hopeful there will be a deal that avoids the worst parts of the fiscal cliff, namely taxes going up on middle class people. >> it's pretty apparent that we are not going to do what we've been called to do. this is 112th congress. we have had two y

. and of course,presidentobamasortof continuing his public campaign topressurecongress, notonly republicans, but also, democrats who have expressed skepticism about this deal and not getting enough in new revenues. the president saying, look, this is not a perfect deal, not grand bargain, the big deal they had initially hoping for and working on but it is a deal nonetheless and will prevent at least part of the fiscal cliff set to go in to effect in a matter of hours now. >> mike, we talk a lot here about the sequester, the income tax rates for the wealthy and other issues that need to be resolved or one on the table. one that's not on the table, the payroll tax extension is just gone. unemployment insurance extension looks like it's part of this. and medicare dock fix. you have any sense of two other things that obama's been looking for here? one is an extension of the expansion of the refundable tax credits of stimulus in 2009. these are things pushing for. if that's part of it and obama looking for at least some infrastructure, some stimulus spending. are any of those components in this

. >>withcongresscomingback, the president will also reportedly cut short his holiday vacation in hawaii. democrats hope mr. obama will continue to fight for a complete agreement, not just a temporary patch. >> i definitely hope that he can and will continue to push for as big a deal as possible, but you've got to remember now, we're just a few days away. >> if no deal is reached over 2 million americans will lose their jobless benefits and workers will see a 2% cut in take home pay as social security payroll taxes go up january 1st. jennifer johnson, nbc news, washington. >> well, around this time of year, there is a big surprise that happens on the rockefeller center ice skating rink outside our news world headquarters. it happens about half a dozen times a day every day. erica hill has the story. >> right outside our doors at rockefeller center, home to the christmas tree, we often hear an plows this time of year. and when we do, we know it means something special is happening. >> yeah. >> the reason for those snoemts people like summit choong flew 4,000 miles from the netherlands jus

the dreaded fiscal cliff when the clock strikes midnight. todaypresidentobamatookone more opportunity to tell congress not to let that happen. >> part of the reason that i wanted to speak to all of you here today is to make sure that we emphasize to have congress and that members of both parties understand that all across america this is a pressing concern on people's minds. >> jared bernstein is an msnbc contributor and former chief economic adviser to vice president joe biden. jared, thank you for being here. >> thank you for inviting me, jonathan. >> take us through what happens if we do, indeed, go over the cliff tonight. >> well, if we go over the cliff and there isn't a new plan in the offing that could pass very quickly, and that's actually quite an if right now because they have been making some progress, then, you know, some bad stuff could happen when financial markets reopen. they would take a spike down because they have largely priced in a solution. a very serious problem, millions of people would face what's called a hard cutoff of their unemployment benefits. if you're

cliff 45 minutes from now.presidentobamawillbe watching with the rest of country for a deal to be hammered out. he thinks republican leaders need to bend. >> congress has not been able to get this stuff done not because democrats in congress don't want to go ahead and cooperate but because i think it's been very hard for speaker boehner and republican leader mcconnell to accept the fact that taxes on the wealthiest americans should go up a little bit and as part of an overall deficit reduction package. >> i'm joined by congresswoman barbara lee a democrat from california. good to see you. good morning. >> good to see you. glad to be with you. >> let me give you the republican perspective. it is that some indications they are willing to give on taxes whether 400 or 450,000, that yesterday they floated this idea of changing social security. they've backed off on that. they apparently are willing to give on some of these estate taxes. the democrats are willing to give on some of the estate taxes. but what the republicans want is they say that this deal that's being offered look

of all, we want to say merry christmas. >>presidentobamaiscutting short his christmas break with the fiscal cliff looming large. >> the fiscal cliff gets closer. congress now has six days left to make a deal. >> aloha, hawaii. >> to my republican colleagues, the ronald reagan model is if you get 80% of what you want, that's a pretty good day. >> they were this close. they were this close to a solution. >> he's going to get tax rate hikes. >> are we going over the cliff? >> i believe we are. >> be republican and be conservative and pass a bill that cuts tax. >> boehner has no control over his extreme right wing faction. >> should anybody's taxes be raised at this point? answer yes or no. >> no. no. ♪ >> we begin as president obama and the senate head back to washington set for one last effort to avert the first fiscal cliff. aloha means good-bye for the president as he packs bound for the white house tonight. the president cutting short his vacation leaving michelle and the girls behind as he gets back to work to try to prevent tax increases and spending cuts due to begin n

congressinhistory? >> the public is implicated in this. 2008 the public electedpresidentobama, democratichouse, democratic senate. 2010, a large number of people in the public changed their minds they got angry at us over health care, which was misunderstood, angry at us because we inherited a section that we weren't able to defeat because of their obstruction. in 010 -- in most democracies that would be it. we have a constitution under which it's called the staggered powers, checks and balances, the last three elections are there. the problem is in 2008 you had one group of people elected, in 2010, another. there wasn't simply the people in 2010 were conservative. very substantial number of the people elected as republicans in 2010 do not believe in governance. they do not understand there are things we need for the quality of life we have to come together. this isn't bob dole. this isn't howard baker. this isn't ronald reagan. these are people that are quite extreme. what's happened is that many republican whose believe in compromise and trying work things out some defeated

, noproblem.obamawonthe election. he'll hand them a plan. he'll make some small changes. that's how congress works, of course. pass it and we'll be done. we'll go home for christmas. not so much. president obama did hand them a plan as treasury secretary tim geithner made a special trip all the way to john boehner's office on capitol hill. he delivered the plan to speaker boehner, a plan pretty much identical to the one president obama just won the election on. you might have thought that would have been leading, the problem would have been solved. not so much. >> flabbergasted. i looked at him, you can't be serious. i've just never seen anything like it. >> so when you said you wanted to be led, you just wanted a plan, that was a joke? so the white house agreed, then, no more leading, that was not what their partners in the house of representatives wanted. instead, white house and boehner entered into intense lengthy negotiations. and by the end of them they seemed really close to a deal. the white house had agreed to cut their tax ask by about 400 billion, to increase their spendi

congresssincerecordkeeping began. in the course of nearly two years, the112thcongresshaspassed 219 bills that have actually been signed into law by president obama. but a lot of these laws were insignificant, things like the names of post offices. and a slew of bills passed by the house had no chance of passing the senate or getting the president's signature, like repeated attempts to repeal the affordable care act. the influence of the tea party lawmakers have been a clear factor. >> the tea party, which is not even on the screen about a year ago at this time, is a very domineering force. >> one story will be with us, the rise of the tea party. >> regardless of what those elites think, the tea party movement is authentic, grassroots movement. >> i wouldn't sell short these candidates. >> tea party americans, you're winning. >> it's a big mistake not to take it seriously. >> you think the tea party is here to stay? >> absolutely. >> this book was just named the best book of the year. good evening and congratulations. >> thank you, chris. happy to be with you. >> this fiscal cliff w

thought of whatthecongresssaidthere? >> he makes a good point there. the pressure of theleft.obamawona re-election and he learned that when he tried to negotiate in good faith with boehner and sort of move toward the middle and give concessions, criticized pretty sharply before maybe going too quickly to do that. i think he'll stand up longer this time. i don't think he's going to go lower. republicans of course want equal amount of spending cuts and the goal, the catch and how they do that. the president wants them to come forward with a plan. what do you want to cut? put it on paper. we'll see if that happens. won't happen in the next few days. i think again talking about more of a temporary measure. >> political fallout and as you heard congressman cummings there, meredith, he seems to think it will be -- fault aimed toward the republicans and won't it hurt both sides at the end of the day with the number of options on the plate? >> well, sure. i mean, if you look at congressional approval levels, excuse me, nationwide, i mean, people don't like congress. they don't like the f

for politics. >>> let me finish tonight with this. i have high hopes forpresidentobama's secondterm. i have low hopes for the republican opposition in congress. i have rising hopes for the old reasonable republican party out there in real world, the party that resides in the eastern big states and actually deals with the real work of being big state governor, for example. so here we go. we've got to do something ab

or eight months. >> okay. so we've got the latest here includingpresidentobamadoingan interview for "meet the press." the senate is scheduled to reconvene at 11:00 this morning. any deal today would have to be rushed through both chambers of congress before midnight. as talks in the senate stalled yesterday, minority leader mitch mcconnell reached out to someone he believed he could help jump start the negotiations and perhaps deliver an 11th hour compromise, and that would be vice president joe biden. mcconnell and biden reportedly spoke several times by phone throughout the night after talks with harry reid came to a halt. >> there's no single issue that remains an impossible sticking point. the sticking point appears to be a willingness, an interest, or frankly the courage to close the deal. i want everyone to know i'm willing to get this done. but i need a dance partner. >> before i continue to set the scene, anyone here think biden can make a difference? dan? >> not before the end of the day. i just think that even if the senate -- even if they work out a deal that's accept

legislation inthecongress. look,he blames everything but guns, movies, the media,presidentobama, gun-freeschool zones, you name it, the video games, he blames them. now, trying to prevent shootings in schools without talking about guns is like trying to prevent lung cancer without talking about cigarettes. he is so adamant that i believe gun owners turn against him as well. look, he says the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. what about trying to stop the bad guy from getting the gun in the first place. that's common sense, most americans agree with it and i just think he's turning people off. that's not where america is at and he's actually helping us. >> senator graham, there are nra supporters, colleagues in the senate who are saying, look, let's not just make this a conversation about kbguns, it's got to be a broader conversation but i heard wayne lapierre say, no, he will not sign on to any new gun legislation. do you believe him? >> i don't think there's anybody in the country that doesn't feel sick in their stomach. i can't imagine a worse situati

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